Search results for ""Author Leo Zeilig""

Frantz Fanon was one of the twentieth-century's most influential theorists and activists, whose work fighting against colonialism and imperialism has been an inspiration to today's decolonization and anti-racism movements. As the author of essential texts such as The Wretched of the Earth and Black Skin, White Masks, his impact on today's activists - from Rhodes Must Fall to Black Lives Matter - is indelible. Leo Zeilig here details the fascinating life of Fanon - from his upbringing in Martinique to his wartime experiences and work in Europe and North Africa - and frames his ideas and activism within the greater context of his career as a practising psychiatrist and his politically tumultuous surroundings. The book covers the period of the Algerian War of Independence, national liberation and what Fanon described as 'the curse of independence'. Highlighting Fanon's role as the most influential theorist of anti-colonialism and racial liberation, this book is an essential read for those interested in the roots of the modern day anti-racism and decolonization movements.

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Patrice Lumumba (1925-61) is perhaps the most famous leader of the African independence movement. After his execution in 1961, when he had been prime minister of the newly-liberated Congo for only seven months, he became an icon of anti-imperialist struggle. As the news came out, his picture was brandished in demonstrations in capitals around the world, along with Che Guevara and Mao Zedong. His life and the independence that he sought for the Congo made him a pivotal figure of the 20th century, highlighting ongoing Western colonialism and the problematic nature of the independence granted to huge swathes of the globe after 1945. In this book, revised and updated to include new thinking on the Congo crisis and incorporating material recently released from British intelligence archives, Leo Zeilig tells the story of the Congo in the dying days of colonialism, and of Lumumba's transition from nationalist to revolutionary to international symbol of African liberation.

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As Viktor's marriage crumbles in London he struggles to make sense of the world around him. He is consumed with ideas about how to bring about radical social change. He befriends Tendai, a Zimbabwean cleaner at his university, and joins his struggle for cleaner's living wage. They share revolutionary ideas, spurring each on, and Tendai suggests that Viktor make contact with his friend in Zimbabwe, Anne-Marie. Through her we are introduced to Nelson, Biko, Lenin and other figures named after prominent past revolutionaries. Viktor and Anne-Marie start speaking on Skype, and they soon begin to depend on their companionship and their friendship becomes sexual in nature, despite never having met. Urged on by Tendai, Victor decides to travel to Harare to witness the realities of political struggle - following Frantz Fanon's idea about "an ounce of practice". He and Anne-Marie quickly consummate their relationship. Victorbecomes caught up with a group of men and women involved in an unusual opposition group with devastating, unexpected results. This is a novel about hope, fear, and failure, and how fighting for an all-consuming cause can forge some relationships but ruin others.

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While the revolutionary leftist movements of the 1960s and '70s in Europe, the United States and Latin America have been the subject of abundant literature, similar movements that emerged in Africa have received comparatively very little attention. This book sheds new light on these political movements. Africa's left were extremely active in these years. With pro-Soviet movements, Maoism, Trotskyism, Guevarism, Pan-Africanism and the Black Panthers, the rumble of revolution was felt across the continent. From feminist student rebels in Nigeria to pro-democracy moments in Liberia, the exciting and complex interplay between these many actors changed Africa forever. Can we see echoes of these movements in African politics today? What can we learn from the people who lived through these decades? This unique collection will open the eyes of leftists across the world who will find new and important insights into an important chapter in global history.

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